LinkedIn introduces Trending Storylines to keep professionals hooked

After undergoing a complete makeover to boost user engagement and increase the time spent on the platform, LinkedIn is now launching a new feature dubbed Trending Storylines, a personalised feed of trending news stories and topics relevant to a user’s industry.

You can find Trending Storylines on a mobile home screen under the Trending tab. On a desktop, it’s at the top right of the homepage. Starting with the US, Trending Storylines is rolling out on both desktop and mobile and will expand to other countries soon.

The new feature uses a combination of human editors and algorithms to curate feeds based on topics that are trending in the news and among different groups. Basically, whenever a big news story breaks, a human editor will write a summary and load up the Trending Storyline. From there, an algorithm will keep the story going with top posts from LinkedIn users.

The goal, is to expose users to different viewpoints outside of their so-called filter bubbles, explains LinkedIn VP Tomer Cohen.

“I don’t want just one point of view,” says Cohen. “Our mission is to get them to discover and discuss those new ideas and perspectives so they can be more productive.”

In a blog post, the company said, “Each storyline will also have a unique hashtag associated with it, making it easy for you to join the conversation and add your own take on the issue. As the conversations evolve, we will continue to ensure you’re seeing the latest perspectives.”

LinkedIn is also planning to add the feature where users can start following people and topics that they discover within storylines, making user’s LinkedIn Feed reflect their professional interests.